Privacy Policy

Last Modified: 29 April 2025

Ruck Social LTD (“Ruck”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. Respect for your dignity and autonomy is one of the founding principles of our app, and this privacy policy reflects that commitment.

Our Approach to Privacy

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, store, use, and share data that identifies or is associated with you (“personal information”) when you use our app, website, or related services (“Services”).

Ruck will never sell your personal information. We minimize data collection and only use your information to provide and improve the Services in ways that serve your interests, not exploit them.

About Us

Ruck Social LTD (company no. 16103311) is the controller of your personal information.

Registered Address: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ

Contact Email: contact@ruck.social

Personal Information We Collect and Why

We collect limited categories of personal information necessary to provide you with the Services.

You provide information when you:

  • Download and sign up for the app.

  • Create or update your profile.

  • Communicate with other users or with us.

  • Participate in surveys or events (optional).

This may include:

  • Basic contact details (email address).

  • Profile details (username, date of birth, gender, orientation, photos).

  • Communications with other members.

  • Limited technical data (such as device type and operating system).

Special category data (such as information about your sexual orientation or gender identity) is only collected if you voluntarily choose to provide it. It is protected with heightened safeguards and never used for profiling, targeted advertising, or sold.

Some data, such as your email address and basic profile information, may be linked to your account to provide core functionality of the Services. This data is not shared with third parties for marketing purposes.

How We Use Your Information

We only use your information:

  • To provide and maintain the Services.

  • To allow discovery and communication between users.

  • To ensure security, verification, and prevent fraudulent accounts.

  • To improve the user experience (e.g. bug fixing, app development).

  • To contact you about changes to services, privacy notices, or important updates.

We do not use your data for targeted advertising based on personal traits. Any advertising in the app will be contextual, non-invasive, and optional for premium subscribers.

Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal information only where we have a legal basis to do so, including to perform our contract with you (i.e., providing the Services), with your consent, or where it is necessary for our legitimate interests in maintaining and improving the Services.

Two-Step SMS Authentication

For security, we may require two-step authentication using your phone number.

Third-party providers (such as Google LLC.) may process your number for delivery of authentication codes only. We limit retention to 365 days and only use secure providers.

Data Retention

We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary:

  • Your account data is deleted within 1 day (24 hours) of account termination unless retention is legally required.

  • Anonymous, non-personal records (such as transaction logs) may be retained for longer to protect service integrity.

  • If there are legal or safety concerns, we may retain relevant data longer but with strict access controls.

Account Deletion

You can request deletion of your account directly through the app or by contacting us at contact@ruck.social. Once requested, your account data will be deleted within 24 hours unless legal retention obligations apply.

Who We Share Information With

We only share personal information where necessary, such as:

  • Trusted service providers (e.g. cloud storage, authentication services) under strict confidentiality agreements.

  • Regulators or legal authorities, if required by law.

  • In exceptional cases to protect user safety or prevent harm.

We do not sell your information or share it with advertisers, brokers, or data monetization companies.

We use trusted third-party service providers to support the operation of our Services, including but not limited to cloud hosting (e.g., Google Cloud), authentication and two-factor authentication (e.g., Firebase/Google LLC,), and analytics providers (e.g., Google Analytics with anonymized IP settings). These providers are under strict contractual obligations to handle your personal information securely and only as instructed by Ruck.

International Data Transfers

If your personal information is transferred outside of the UK/EEA, we ensure it is protected with approved safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses).

Our servers are hosted in secure facilities located in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United States.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Access the personal data we hold about you.

  • Request portability of your data.

  • Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.

  • Request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”).

  • Restrict or object to certain uses of your data.

  • Withdraw your consent at any time (where consent applies).

You can exercise your rights by contacting us at contact@ruck.social

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local Data Protection Authority (e.g. ICO in the UK).

Marketing

We will only send you marketing communications if you consent. You can withdraw consent or opt-out at any time via an unsubscribe link in emails. We will never sell or share your information for marketing by third parties.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

On our website, we use minimal cookies (Google Analytics with anonymized IP) to understand how visitors use the site.

In the app, we collect anonymized usage data (device type, OS version, app usage patterns) using Google Analytics for Firebase to improve performance and user experience.

Children

Ruck is only for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from individuals under 18. If you believe we have data about a minor, contact us immediately at contact@ruck.social

Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy occasionally. Any material changes will be posted clearly on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by email or through the app.

Latest revision: 29 April 2025

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this policy or your personal information, please contact:

  • Ruck Social LTD

  • Email: contact@ruck.social

  • Registered Address: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ